[fcdairygoats]

When I moved to this property a little over a year ago I only had my horses. My cousin and I put gates up for horse stalls in the pole barn. Then I ended up with getting goats again. (I was only goatless for 5 months lol) I bought 2 Nubians. I have decided to get Saanens as well. My main focus will be on my Saanens but will still have my Nubians. I am planning on switching the pole barn to just the goat barn. Horses are getting kicked out. lol They are getting moved to the other barn. The back section of this barn is going to be for the horses. It will have their stalls, hay/grain/bedding and all of their tack. It is a lot bigger in person than what it looks like in the photo...lol My cousin and I have a lot of work this spring. That barn will have 3 sections enclosed before we start tearing down and moving the horse stalls. The wind is horrible where I live. It's all open area so no wind block. I am going to have 2 hydrants put in. One for the back barn and one for the goat barn. I have to message the guy who tore down the 2 barns and see what quote I get for 2 hydrants.
So in the pole barn I will have the doe pen which is going to be connected to an outside pen so they will be able to come and go as they please. I will also have a "holding pen" for the does when I am milking or needing to give shots or trim hooves etc. It will be between the doe pen and milk room. My milk room to start out with will not be enclosed but hoping next year I will have money to enclose it and put in a sink, water heater, heater, etc. I will also have a kid pen with an outdoor pen on the south side of the barn. Doe pen will be on the north side. Surprisingly, more of the weather comes from the southwest. So I don't know what they had in this pole barn but part of it is concrete and part is dirt. The dirt part will have the milk room since I am obviously running water lines in there for a sink. I will be glad to get started on this project! I will post updates as we start working on it.

My goats. Brown one is Zaylynn Rain and the other is Vera.

 

[wheel-bear-o]

Your goats are just gorgeous, look at those faces!! I raise Nigies and cashmere goats but my partner is on me to get into nubians because he is in love with their ears!

We also have a large unused pole barn that we're planning on renovating into a usable space, so I am looking forward to following your adventures in this thread. The hardest part for us right now is figuring out how to put a floor in an existing structure.

 

[AlabamaGirl]

]I have decided to get Saanens as well. My main focus will be on my Saanens but will still have my Nubians.

Do you like the Saanens a little more than the Nubians?

 

[fcdairygoats]

Your goats are just gorgeous, look at those faces!! I raise Nigies and cashmere goats but my partner is on me to get into nubians because he is in love with their ears!

We also have a large unused pole barn that we're planning on renovating into a usable space, so am I looking forward to following your adventures in this thread. The hardest part for us right now is figuring out how to put a floor in an existing structure.

Thank you! I think they are pretty does. I can't wait to see their kids and their udders.

Do you like the Saanens a little more than the Nubians?

Nubians will always be my favorite. But trying Saanens and see how it goes.

 

[MellonFriend]

You are so lucky to have such a huge barn on your property! I look forward to seeing your renovations.

 

[Goats Rock]

Can you put up a wind break fence? It's a bunch of poles with slatted boards, all it does is help break the wind. You may be able to get outdated telephone poles for a few dollars each. The fence doesn't have to be real tall- 8-10' is plenty. It really works well.

I worked at a farm in KC, MO. That wind started in Colorado and never stopped. (I hate wind!) It always blew- the wind breaks worked great- if you angle the ends- it actually directs the wind around the barn!

 

[fcdairygoats]

You are so lucky to have such a huge barn on your property! I look forward to seeing your renovations.

I use 2 have 2 other barns. Unfortunately they were too old and falling down because they weren't taken care of over the years. the barn roof was bad and was never replaced so the boards started to rot. It was sad to see such a nice barn, old type of barn, have to be torn down but it was going to cost more to fix.

Can you put up a wind break fence? It's a bunch of poles with slatted boards, all it does is help break the wind. You may be able to get outdated telephone poles for a few dollars each. The fence doesn't have to be real tall- 8-10' is plenty. It really works well.

I worked at a farm in KC, MO. That wind started in Colorado and never stopped. (I hate wind!) It always blew- the wind breaks worked great- if you angle the ends- it actually directs the wind around the barn!

I will look into that. I know we are closing off 3 sides of the building that is pictured. So wind won't be an issue there. I am hoping that the south side of pole barn, which just a small run through door for the goats won't create too much wind going through there. If so, I will definitely have to do something! Thank you for the suggestion!

 

[goathiker]

So if you were to make a breezeway for the small door, basically an enclosed porch lean to with a door at each end. They walk into the lean to and then through the interior door. This keeps the building warmer and will help prevent mud at the doorway.

 

[Moers kiko boars]

Very neat post! I like your ideas. Please post more pictures so we can also see your progress. It sounds amazing and affordable!

 

[fcdairygoats]

Very neat post! I like your ideas. Please post more pictures so we can also see your progress. It sounds amazing and affordable!

I will make sure to post photos!

It will cost about $500 to close off the 3 sections of the building where the horses are going. I am hoping that I will have the money by the time I am off for 8 days in March so we can get that done.

 

[fcdairygoats]

The Saanens... Havarti and Corduroy

 

[MellonFriend]

Love the names! They are cute.

 

[fcdairygoats]

Love the names! They are cute.

Thank you! I am definitely not use to goats as big as them! LOL

 

[GoofyGoat]

Sounds like you’ve got a great plan. I’ll look forward to progress pictures. Your goats are beautiful.

 

[goathiker]

Funny, they look very small to me, especially for Saanen goats.

 

[fcdairygoats]

Pictures can be deceiving.... they make my nubians look like mini nubians.

 

[fcdairygoats]

Sadly this project is on hold due to the weather. *sighs* Darn snow and cold.

 

[toth boer goats]

What a bummer.

 

[fcdairygoats]

Yea but it's giving me time to look for another job since I am not super busy at the moment. I can't wait to get the horses moved out though and start working on the goat barn.

 

[HoosierShadow]

It's fun to plan upgrades, but whew, getting the time, $$ and weather to get them done is such a pain! I totally sympathize as we are in the same boat. We had a carport installed in the fall and my husband wasn't able to really get to work on it until after Thanksgiving. It's been great, but needs front/back doors. The back door is boarded up (so we have to go in/out through the goats doggie door lol), and front is boarded up with a piece of OSB we block the doorway with, it's so sad lol windows are boarded up. He's only off work on Sundays, and so far weather is just lousy on his days off, and then he can't decide what to make the doors with which is very frustrating, I'm like... get it done and move on already lol! We have so much to do, and some of it needs to be done ASAP and I'm starting to get stressed out about it. My husband will definitely wait until the last minute no matter what and it drives me crazy.